As a conventional electronic component, there is known a multilayer coil component of open magnetic path type, which is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-259774 (Patent Literature 1). FIG. 9 is a sectional structural view of a multilayer coil component 500 of open magnetic path type, which is described in Patent Literature 1.
The multilayer coil component 500 of open magnetic path type includes, as illustrated in FIG. 9, a laminate 502 and a coil L. The laminate 502 is made up of a plurality of magnetic layers laminated one above another. The coil L has a helical shape and is made up of a plurality of coil conductors 506 connected in series. Further, the multilayer coil component 500 of open magnetic path type includes a non-magnetic layer 504. The non-magnetic layer 504 is disposed in the laminate 502, and it extends across the coil L.
In the multilayer coil component 500 of open magnetic path type, a magnetic flux φ 510 circling around the coil L passes through the non-magnetic layer 504. This suppresses the occurrence of magnetic saturation due to excessive concentration of the magnetic flux within the laminate 502. As a result, the multilayer coil component 500 of open magnetic path type exhibits good direct-current superposition characteristics.